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Archiver > GENEALOGY-DNA > 2007-02 > 1171554605


From: "Ken Nordtvedt" <>
Subject: Re: [DNA] TMRCA
Date: Thu, 15 Feb 2007 08:50:05 -0700
References: <KHEKIJEABJGJEKDPFEDMAENGDDAA.elizabethod@eircom.net>


----- Original Message -----
From: "Elizabeth O'Donoghue" <>

> Another issue I've seen commented on is that mutation rates can differ
> between haplogroups - so statistical analysis could be availed of to
> identify such differences and incorporated into the . We surely have
> plenty
> of statistics by now.

It's not clear that we do have plenty of statistics yet. Look at the
standard deviations on the most recent individual marker mutation rates.
They are sufficiently large (and probably understated at that), so I think
they will blanket most variations of mutation rates, or up/down differences,
or other oddities which could in principle refine the models at the present
time.

If rates differ between haplogroups, that will probably be an indirect
consequence of the rates depending on repeat lengths for the markers, and
the different haplogroups having different modalities. Better to model the
markers with rates depending on length I would guess.

Ken


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